Here is everything I learned about how to go from $0 to $1 with your SaaS.
We grew our SaaS to $162 MRR in around 3 weeks, so I want to share everything what I learned.
No gatekeeping, I’m sharing literally EVERYTHING.
Disclaimer: going from $0 to $100 MRR is completely different from going from $100 to $10k. So if you're already at a good MRR, this post isn’t for you.
1️⃣ Launch. I built around 4 apps that I never launched to the world. And guess what? They made $0. Launching doesn’t guarantee that you’ll make sales, but NOT launching guarantees that you’ll stay broke.
2️⃣ Do unscalable things. Talk with people in DMs, write personalised emails WITHOUT AI, jump on calls with people, and help your customers for free in communities. At the start DM every single person you know, to collect feedback, to try to make your first sale. It feels cringe, but it’s necessary at the start.
3️⃣ Don't overengineer at the beginning. I used to spend days setting up analytics, admin panels, and systems for my apps. That’s a f*cking procrastination right there. Our recent SaaS got its first $100 MRR without Posthog tracking. At the beginning focus on getting people to your website, you can add tracking later.
4️⃣ Don’t be shy. To sell, you need to ask people to buy. Don’t be scared to slide to someone’s DM or to reply to someone’s comment with an offer to buy your app. You're either gonna get feedback on why it’s not worth buying, clarity about your positioning or a sale.
5️⃣ Start with a low price. At the beginning the goal is to get some initial validation and some people in. Don’t worry about the profit, and sell your SaaS for just $5, or just $9/month. You can always increase the price, but decreasing it will look like a loser’s move.
6️⃣ Use your unfair advantage. Think of what you have that other people don’t? Maybe you used to run a newsletter or community with a bunch of people in, or you know technology that most people don’t, or you have unique contacts in medical facilities? It’s easier to get a sale when you have an advantage in that niche. And if you don’t have anything, then focus on learning something well, and just sharing your learnings and giving value to the world.
7️⃣ And last step, that I’m still figuring out myself, clearly define your ICP. Marketing becomes so much easier when you know exactly who you are serving. And no, „developers” isn’t a good ICP, „developers who work at US-based software houses and use Rust” is a good ICP.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!